And Baby Makes?
by jbn42
Summary: Apparently, it takes a colony to raise a child.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Was requested to give you a little bit of Wash and Taylor dealing with a baby Gracie. Given my recent and current experience with baby minding, I plan to have a bit of fun with this. But this part is a lot of soft and fluffy.

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

"Are you sure you're ready to go home?" Nathaniel stands in front of her, looking worried.

Alicia leaves off gazing at a sleeping Gracie, nestled carefully in her arms, to give Nathaniel a funny look. "Of course! Nathaniel, we've been here four days. Elisabeth will be five minutes away if we need her. I want to go home. Now, where is my baby sling?" She refers to the cloth contraption that she loves but that baffles Nathaniel.

He puts the long black wrap on the bed, and she hands him their sleeping daughter. As puzzled as he is by a lot of the "baby gear" that has shown up at their home, he is not at all puzzled by Gracie herself. He claims that he spent little time with Lucas as an infant, but you wouldn't know it by watching him with her.

She has to blink back tears at the sight of their tiny baby looking even tinier as he holds her. It still doesn't quite feel real to her, and it's not a sight she ever expected to see. He must notice her tearing up, because he gets a concerned look on his face. "Alicia?"

She waves her hand and gets up slowly, minding her incision, to put the baby sling on. "I'm fine. I keep waiting for the hormonal crying thing to stop. I need to ask Elisabeth how long it's going to last."

"Quite some time, I'm afraid." They both turn to the door as Elisabeth enters. "It's probably going to be a while before you can pull off your stoic face again."

Alicia rolls her eyes. "Great, because God knows how much I love being openly emotional."

Elisabeth and Nathaniel both laugh at that. "How are you feeling today, Alicia?"

"Good. Still a little sore, but nothing I can't handle." If Elisabeth tries to keep her here, she's going to fight it. She's ready for some relative quiet. Since Elisabeth started allowing visitors two days ago, there has been a parade of well-wishers through her room here in the infirmary.

Elisabeth nods. "Well, I had to cut you open. I'd be surprised if you weren't sore. One more scan, please. I want to check the laser cut from the ligation."

Alicia stops messing with the sling and carefully sits on the bed and reclines back. While Elisabeth is checking the site of the small laser incision she had to make to get to Alicia's one remaining fallopian tube, the other lost to her injuries from Somalia, Alicia lets her mind wander. After the trauma and complications with Gracie's birth, they realized that they aren't willing to risk another pregnancy.

It wasn't an easy decision for her, but she knows that Gracie is her miracle. To push for another seems far too much like playing chicken with fate. So they asked Elisabeth to do a tubal ligation on Alicia, eliminating the possibility of any more accidental pregnancies.

"Both the surgical and laser incisions are healing well. You can sit back up, Alicia."

Alicia blinks, and she sits up, again carefully. "So I'm OK to go home?"

Elisabeth hesitates, but then she sighs. "Yes. I have no reason to keep you here any longer."

Alicia furrows her brow at Elisabeth's choice of words. "Elisabeth, we'll be fine. I'll be fine."

The doctor nods. "I know you will. I just feel guilty after what happened, even though I know there's nothing we could've done to prevent it."

Alicia glances at Nathaniel, who takes the cue. "I'm going to wander around a bit with my girl." He slips out without waiting for a reply.

"Subtle." Elisabeth winces. "I know I need to stop second-guessing and overthinking, Alicia. I just can't seem to turn it off."

"Elisabeth," Alicia puts her hands on Elisabeth's upper arms, "You said it yourself. There's nothing that would have prevented it. It was the sort of complication we anticipated that I might have. But even though it was scary when it was happening, the fact that it waited until thirty-six weeks is all that matters to me. I survived it, and Gracie is perfect. There is _nothing _to feel guilty about." She pauses. "And need I point out that I'm the one who insisted that I didn't need to be here on bed rest anymore, that I'm the one who pushed to go home?"

"Alicia, it didn't make any difference. Carter got you here so fast that whatever increase in risk there might have been was miniscule."

"I know. But I fought Nathaniel on always making sure someone was with me. What if I'd been there alone, Elisabeth? I like to think I can manage anything, but the pain was so sharp that there's no way I would've made it here on my own. I could barely stand." Alicia shakes her head. "I refuse to feel guilty about it, though. The worst didn't happen. I've decided that I don't have time to dwell on how badly it could have gone."

"Fair enough. I need to do the same. And you're right. Gracie is perfect." Elisabeth gives her a small smile. "Is the breastfeeding going all right?"

Alicia nods. "It was hard at first, but the nurse who's an expert helped a lot. And I have the pump. It's hilarious to me that we have them, though."

This time Elisabeth's smile is fuller. "We have a crate of them, and we've figured out how to sterilize the parts, so we can re-use them. You have the reusable containers, too, correct?"

"Definitely. Nathaniel wants to be able to take a turn feeding her now and then."

"He's good with her, at ease."

Alicia smiles and nods. "He really is. So much so that it actually surprises me. It shouldn't, though, given how much he loves kids. But you should've seen him try to understand how the sling works."

"No success?"

"None." Alicia grins.

"I'll have Jim show him. He was an expert." Elisabeth grins back, her earlier melancholy lifting.

There's a light knock at the door, and Nathaniel comes in, arms empty. Alicia lifts an eyebrow until he's followed into the room by Jim, Mark, Zoe, and, bringing up the rear, Carter carrying Gracie. Once again, the former Sixer and apparent adopted older brother for Alicia, has surprised her. His adoration of Gracie is clear.

Alicia is quite certain that if anyone tries to hurt Gracie, Carter will rip their head off with his bare hands. He'd have to get in line behind Nathaniel and herself, of course, but Alicia is fine with overprotective uncles. Given their hovering the last few days, Alicia would guess that Guz, Mark and Jim are on the same page with Carter.

Looking at the group, Alicia raises an eyebrow. "Boys, the attention is nice, but who's minding the store?"

Jim grins. "Guz. He drew the short straw."

"Alicia," Elisabeth interrupts, and Alicia turns back to her. "You're clear to go. I'm giving you a bottle of pain meds. They won't hurt Gracie through feeding her, and you need to not be a hero. Also, take it easy at first, focus on taking care of Gracie and yourself. Maddy is at home making casseroles and things even he," she indicates Nathaniel with her head, "Can just warm up. And for another week, no lifting anything heavier than ten pounds. The last thing you want is to tear your wound seal."

Alicia wants to argue, but she knows it won't do her any good, so she just nods. "When do you want us back for a check-in?"

"Three days, unless something makes you think you need to come in sooner. And you can comm me any time."

Nodding again, Alicia finally finishes getting the baby sling ready. She holds her hands out to Carter for the baby. He looks disappointed, but he hands her over. As she arranges Gracie close to her body, she says, "You can come over and hold her again later, Carter."

He brightens noticeably, and she just shakes her head. She looks around the room. There are flowers and cards everywhere. "Well, since you're all here, you get to help take all this stuff to our house."

There's a large stuffed bear in the corner, and Zoe runs over and grabs it. "I'll carry this!"

Alicia swallows a smile and says seriously, "Thank you, Zoe." She beams in reply.

The others laugh, and Carter, Jim and Mark go to gather up the flowers and cards. Nathaniel grabs her bag and the bag with the breast pump in it, tucking the meds from Elisabeth into Alicia's duffel. As all of this is going on, Alicia leans against the biobed, watching Gracie as she sleeps snuggled up against her body. She just can't take her eyes off of her.

Elisabeth walks over to her, making Alicia look up in surprise and blush lightly at being caught staring. "I was that way with all three of mine. I alternated between being exultant over how perfect they were, terrified about how fragile they seemed and overwhelmed by the very idea that I could love something so completely and so instantly."

Alicia murmurs, "It's definitely overwhelming."

Elisabeth gives her a one armed hug, careful not to squish Gracie between them. Elisabeth whispers in her ear, "You're going to do great. You and Taylor both are. And if you need help, please ask."

"I will. Thanks, Elisabeth." Alicia gives her a small smile. "You know that means I might call you at, say, 3 am at some point, right?"

Elisabeth snorts. "I know."

Alicia laughs and turns to the others. "OK, let's get this show on the road, people." She heads for the door. She already had a fight with Elisabeth (and won) over walking home. Elisabeth wanted her in a wheelchair. Alicia flatly refused. She feels fine, and she knows the walk will be OK after wandering around the infirmary for two days now, on her feet much of the time. She's not used to this much inactivity. She hasn't been so sedentary since just after Somalia.

As they step out into the light and noise of the area near the infirmary, Gracie snuffles and shifts against her. She's not swaddled in a blanket like many newborns would be because she's hated it since the first time the tried it. She generally wants to have her hands free. They are now, and Alicia feels her little hands clutch clumsily at her shirt, not really grabbing, which she can't do yet, more like rooting around instinctively, probably in reaction to the noise.

She brings a protective arm up around the baby, quietly shushing her. Unconsciously, she sways slightly, and Nathaniel is at her side in an instant. "Are you OK?"

She looks up in surprise. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You were swaying."

"I was what?"

"Swaying."

"Oh." She's momentarily confused, then she realizes what she was doing. She gives him a sheepish smile. "OK, so it would seem that the whole moving to calm the baby thing is kind of automatic. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He chuckles but turns serious. "Is she OK? I can have Reynolds, Carter and Shannon make sure folks stay back."

"I think she's all right. The noise and light are more than she's used to. I think it just startled her." She starts to walk again, this time keeping her arm around Gracie in the sling. A moment later, her heart melts when she hears a soft little yawn and then a sigh from the sling.

Next to her, Nathaniel grins. "Was that her?"

She looks up at Nathaniel, smiling back. "Yes. The little yawns are my favorite. Though the little sneezes are a close second."

"And you once called me a softie."

She laughs and doesn't argue with that. She hates to admit it, but the last nine months plus the last four days have changed her a little, softened her. The changes, especially when she gets back to work, will have to be something she covers. She doesn't need the younger troops pushing back because they think they can get somewhere. She may have softened about certain things, but about others, there really won't be a difference.

They get to their house, and once inside, Alicia first notices that Maddy is there, stocking the refrigerator and freezer. Alicia walks over to it, and she blinks when she sees the contents. The freezer is nearly packed solid with small containers, each enough to have food for two. The refrigerator is full of fresh fruit, water and what looks like a large container of some sort of soup.

"Maddy," the young woman jumps, clearly having been engrossed in what she was doing. She looks up at Alicia in surprise. "Exactly how much food did you make?"

"Ma'am! Welcome home! I made a lot, because I know the commander can't really cook. Mom said you'd be really tired, and since you did what you did for us when the Phoenix Group was here, dying for us and all, I thought I'd do something nice for you," she pauses, her eyes widening, "Not that cooking for you is the same as you dying for us, not at all, but I thought it would be nice and anyway I made the soup in the fridge, and that may last at least a couple of days, and there's bread in the bread box on the counter, and there are about three weeks' worth of dinners in the freezer, and there are cookies and brownies in the cupboard, and..."

"Maddy!" Alicia interrupts, "Breathe!" She immediately stops talking and a light blush rises on her cheeks. Alicia smiles at her, hoping to put her at ease. "Thank you."

At that, she perks back up. "You're welcome! Is that Gracie? Can I hold her?"

Alicia nods, carefully extracting Gracie from the sling. She passes her to Maddy, who cradles her carefully, minding her head. "She's really beautiful, Lieutenant. May I go sit on the sofa with her?"

"Of course." Alicia smiles at her again, and she watches as Mark follows Maddy to the sofa, sitting with her and taking the baby from her. She looks over at Jim, and she has to choke back a laugh at the slightly ill look on his face as he observes his teenage daughter and her boyfriend with a baby.

"What's funny?" She hears Nathaniel's voice in her ear as he wraps his arms around her from behind, high on her stomach to avoid her incision, and perches his chin on her shoulder.

"Shannon's face."

She feels Nathaniel turn his head a little to look at Jim, and then she hears him snort softly. "Poor man."

She turns her head to look at him, and he looks almost as ill as Jim. Alicia drops a kiss on his cheek. "You have a _long _time before that," she indicates Maddy and Mark on the sofa with a nod of her head, "Is an issue."

"If I have my way, it'll be about thirty years."

Alicia laughs, going to drop another kiss on his cheek. He sees her coming and turns his head at the last moment, catching her lips with his. After a moment, they pull apart when Carter calls, "Get a room!" from the dining room.

She rolls her eyes, and seeing that all the flowers are now covering the table, she calls back, "Or you could just leave!" And then, in what she knows is a rather stunning display of immaturity, she sticks her tongue out at him.

He just laughs, and so does Jim. Jim still seems to be slightly disapproving of Carter, but since Carter saved her from Lucas and subsequently carried her to the infirmary, he appears to be thawing towards the former Sixer.

Alicia hears a small cry from the sofa, and she heads over. Mark looks worried, but Maddy is just rocking and shushing Gracie. When Alicia gets there, Maddy passes the baby to her. Almost immediately, she quiets. She also starts rooting again, this time clearly hungry.

She turns to Carter and Jim. "I'm about to change her diaper and then feed her. _Breast _feed her. Just a heads up."

The two men look at each other, and in unison, they say, "Good bye."

Mark offers, "Wash, we're going to go too. I'm sure you and the commander are ready for some peace and quiet. And, I'll be honest. I really don't want to see your boobs."

Alicia cracks up at that. "Chicken."

"Yes, ma'am." Mark grins.

Taking Maddy's hand, he bolts for the door, her trailing behind him. "Call if you need any more food, Lieutenant!"

Carter and Jim exchange a glance. Jim says, "We're going to go too, Wash, Taylor."

Nathaniel lifts an eyebrow at him. "Shannon, didn't you come here with _two _daughters?"

Jim blinks. "Where's Zoe?"

Alicia's eyes sweep the room. The large bear is nowhere to be found. She turns, still holding Gracie, who's now snuffling quietly as she roots around, and she heads for the baby's room, the three men following her. She has to smile at the sight that greets her when they get there. The big bear is on the floor with the other dozen or so stuffed animals they've been given for Gracie, most of them animals from future Earth.

Zoe is curled up among the animals, and she's asleep. She has one arm wrapped around the stuffed animal _she _gave them for Gracie, a brachiosaurus. Jim grins, and he steps forward and carefully extracts the dinosaur. He then, despite the fact that she's getting awfully big for it, picks her up.

He nods to Nathaniel and Alicia, and he leaves quietly, Carter behind him after giving them a wave. As they hear the front door open and close, they both visibly relax. She smiles at Nathaniel, fatigue starting to seep into her after the walk and being on her feet too long. "You know, I'm grateful for our friends, but I'm really ready for us to be alone for a while."

"I know what you mean." He holds his hands out for Gracie, probably noticing how tired she feels. "I'll change her, you go get settled in the rocker."

She passes him the baby and leans up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks."

Heading back to the living room, she settles into the large, comfy rocker one of the colonists made for them. It has wide arms, and she grabs the nursing pillow Elisabeth got for her. By the time she's settled, he comes in with Gracie, freshly changed. Alicia opens her top and bra, and she takes Gracie, positioning her at her breast. It only takes a moment for her to latch on, her little hands kneading as she emits little cooing sounds.

He settles on the sofa, watching them. "She was hungry."

Alicia nods. "Yeah, and she's definitely getting the hang of this." She looks up, catching Nathaniel's eye. He's gazing at them with unfettered adoration in his eyes.

"I can't believe she'll be Zoe-sized one day. And then Maddy-sized. It doesn't seem possible when you see her this size, you know?" He leans his elbow on the armrest of the sofa, perching his chin on his hand.

"I know. I wonder what she'll be like?" She smiles over at him. "I hope she's outgoing like you."

"And I hope she's confident and, I admit it, sarcastic like you."

"Really? You're going to regret hoping for that when she's thirteen. You know that, right?" She smirks at him.

"Maybe so. I can live with it." He grins back.

A wave of trepidation suddenly sweeps over her as she looks back down at Gracie. She can't help but feel intimidated by the idea that she and Nathaniel are wholly responsible for this tiny, vulnerable creature. Her voice is quiet when she speaks again. "We can do this, right? We can keep her safe and not screw her up completely, right?"

She doesn't move her eyes from Gracie, and Nathaniel is there a moment later, his hand on her face. She looks up at him. He leans down and kisses her softly. "We can do this, Alicia."

She blows out a breath. "OK."

Instead of going back to the sofa, he pulls a chair from the kitchen table over, and he sits right next to them. As the baby eats, he brushes his hand gently through Alicia's hair, a rare quiet moment, one of the sort that Alicia knows will be fewer and farther between in the coming years. She does know, somewhere deep down, that they can do this.

Suddenly, she chuckles. He gives her a questioning look. She grins. "I figure, too, if we start screwing up, there won't be a shortage of folks willing to tell us exactly what we're doing wrong and what we should be doing instead." He laughs at that, probably knowing that she's exactly right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Was requested to give you a little bit of Wash and Taylor dealing with a baby Gracie. Given my recent and current experience with baby minding, I plan to have a bit of fun with this.

So sorry for my slow posting. I'll have at least a few more chapters to this, but real life keeps slowing me down!

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

_Six Weeks Later_

Alicia walks towards the infirmary pushing a napping Gracie in the stroller in front of her. The stroller, good for walking or jogging, was designed and built by one of the engineers. He actually came on the fourth pilgrimage, and when people started having babies, he developed a new side business making strollers and other baby items. The swing they have for Gracie was something he constructed, and so is the jumper toy they have for her when she's a little older.

The jogging version, what Alicia has, is something he designed just for her. She had a meeting where she told him what she wanted, and he did the specs and built it. She smiles to herself, amazed by the resourcefulness the colonists are showing, especially in light of the fact that they'll no longer be getting assistance and supplies from the future.

Malcolm even converted a pair of radios into a baby monitor for them, helpful now that they're thinking about when they want to transition Gracie from her small bassinet in their bedroom to the crib in her own room. Alicia is hesitating on that because it's so easy right now to just nurse her in the bed and then put her back in her bassinet.

"Hey Wash," she looks up to see Guz fall into step with her. "Where are you ladies off to?"

"Meeting Nathaniel at the infirmary for my six week checkup." Alicia smiles up at him. "You?"

He smiles back. "Meeting Mira for lunch."

She smirks and bumps him with her hip. "How is _that _going?"

He laughs softly, a light blush coming to his cheeks, making Alicia smirk even more. "It's…going. I really like her, Alicia." He hesitates before going on, "I know you don't like her, so I hope it doesn't bother you too much. I know it's weird that when I finally start to get serious about someone, it's our former mortal enemy…"

Alicia stops, setting the brake on the stroller wheels. She looks up at Guz. "Listen to me, Isaac. It's true, Mira and I didn't like each other before, but recent experience has established for us, if nothing else, mutual respect. She was trying to make a better life for her daughter. I have an acute appreciation for that these days. And you, my friend, have been alone far too long. If you're happy, I'm happy for you. Now, do you have dinner plans tonight?"

"Nope, nothing on the books." His face betrays his obvious relief at her support.

"Good. I'm making a stew, and Nathaniel is going on a run to one of the outposts. Baby usually goes down to sleep around 7 or so. Come keep me company and have dinner." She grins. "And let me get all the juicy details on your exciting new relationship."

He shakes his head, laughing, and he steps forward and envelopes her in a hug. "Thanks, Wash, and I'd love to have dinner."

"Do we need to be worried?" At the sound of Nathaniel's voice, she and Guz separate. They see him standing there with Mira, both of them smiling.

Alicia rolls her eyes and deadpans, "Yes, Nathaniel. After twenty years at your side, nine of those years in a relationship with you and now having a baby with you, I've suddenly realized that _Guz _is actually the man of my dreams. When can you move your crap out of the house?"

Mira and Guz snort, but Nathaniel just complains, "Why do _I _have to be the one move out? It was my house first."

"Well, that's what you get for giving _my_ house away. I mean seriously, I was _only _dead." She tosses her hair over her shoulder and crosses her arms across her chest.

He shakes his head, laughing. "Good to know that becoming a mother hasn't cured you of being a smart ass."

"It'll take a lot more than that." She grins. "I need to get to the infirmary for my appointment with Elisabeth. Guz, 7:30?"

He smirks and salutes. "I'll be there." Taking Mira's hand, they both wave and head towards the market for lunch.

Nathaniel drops a kiss on her cheek. "I'll walk you two; I was going to meet you there anyway." She releases the brake on the stroller, and they head on to the infirmary. "So what was that about with Guz?"

"I know you're going OTG, so I invited him for dinner. He was worried that I wouldn't approve of him and Mira. I told him I was happy for him and then invited him over so I can pick his brain for the juicy details."

He drops his hand to her lower back as they walk. "You'll catch me up when I'm back?"

"Of course."

"OK. And you're sure you'll be all right on your own tonight?"

"Yes, Nathaniel." They've already been over this a few times, but it'll be his first time OTG since Gracie was born. It has to be an overnight trip because it's to one of the more remote outposts. He's worrying it to death, and she's trying to be patient. "We'll be fine."

He sighs. "I know. I think I'm just looking for an excuse to stay here. I don't want to miss anything, Alicia. I missed so damned much with Lucas, and I don't want that to happen again."

Alicia doesn't say anything, knowing there really isn't anything she _can _say. Instead, she just removes one hand from the stroller handle and reaches behind her to take his hand in hers and squeeze. He squeezes back and entwines their fingers, holding her hand the rest of the way to the infirmary.

As they walk inside, Gracie wakes up and starts to fuss a little. Nathaniel looks at Alicia. "Is she hungry?"

"Probably not, I just fed her before we left the house."

He nods and bends down to take Gracie out of the stroller. "Then go see the doc. I'll look after the little bug."

She shakes her head, laughing. "I'm going to have to kill Tommy for that one. How did this happen? The local bar owner declares that she looks like a bug when she curls up on me, and that becomes a colony-wide nickname?"

He straightens up with the baby, already so much bigger, in his arms. "Well, Shannon, Guz and Carter might have encouraged it a bit."

Her eyes narrow. "Really. Shannon, Guz and Carter did that, and you had nothing to do with it?"

He looks vaguely guilty and mumbles, "I didn't say that."

Elisabeth approaches them, so she lets it go, in large part because while she hasn't admitted as much to him, she actually has become fond of the nickname. "Saved by the doc, Nathaniel." She turns to Elisabeth after he gives her a sheepish smile. "Hi, Elisabeth, Where do you want me?"

"Your regular room at the back." She motions with her head, and Alicia follows her, Nathaniel staying behind with Gracie. She has already settled in Nathaniel's arms, her pale blue eyes blinking up at him, mesmerized as he talks to her with his deep, gravelly voice. Before she goes into the exam room, she looks back at them, and she can't help but smile. He's rocking her back and forth, and her little hand is extended, patting his arm.

"He really is very good with her." Elisabeth's voice behind her makes her jump.

"I know. She loves his voice." They go into the room, and, climbing up on the biobed, Alicia smiles at Elisabeth. "I can't blame her for that, though. I love it too."

"The kids were all like that with Jim as well. He could hold them to his chest and talk to them, and they'd calm down." She grabs a plex and motions for Alicia to recline back on the biobed, and she turns on the scanner. "How are you feeling?"

"Great. No pain, no pulling, nothing." Alicia replies honestly. She learned long ago that she can't lie convincingly to Elisabeth, so even if it's something she doesn't want to admit, she usually gives it up.

"But?" Elisabeth eyes her.

"But I'm tired of just walking, Elisabeth. In the three weeks since you let me start walking as far as I want, I've worked my way up to almost five miles a day." At Elisabeth's hand motion, Alicia sits back up.

Elisabeth blinks. "A _day_? You're walking five miles a day seven days a week? Since when?"

"For two weeks now. Elisabeth, for more than half of my pregnancy, I was still doing a full perimeter walk once a day, and I was still doing resistance training three days a week." Before Elisabeth can say anything, Alicia goes on, "I really don't like running, but Elisabeth, I need to start picking it up. I have a few more pounds to lose, and I don't like to feel so sedentary."

Elisabeth shakes her head. "Only you would call walking five miles a day sedentary, and you're literally slightly under your pre-baby weight. But OK. You may start adding some jogging in, but if you feel a twinge or a pull, you stop and come here immediately. Understood?"

"Understood. I know it'll be a while before you clear any contact workouts, but how long before I can start lifting weights again?"

"Another three weeks, minimum. Come back then, and I'll scan you again." Elisabeth's tone tells her it's not negotiable.

Alicia nods. "And one other thing…" Elisabeth looks at her expectantly as she hesitates. "Can I, I mean, can we, Nathaniel and I, can we start, well, can we have sex?"

Elisabeth snorts. "Yes. But Alicia, just be aware…"

She stops Elisabeth. "I know. It might hurt a lot. I've been reading about it. We have…_supplies _that will help," she grins wickedly, "And it's an excellent excuse to make Nathaniel let me be on top and in control."

Elisabeth shakes her head. "And that's officially far more information than I needed."

"Then my work here is done. Am I OK to go?"

"You are." Elisabeth nods. "I'm glad you're doing this well, Alicia. No signs of depression or anything like that either, correct?"

"Nothing, unless you count the cabin fever I had the first few weeks. Once you let me start wandering the colony, I was much happier."

"I went nuts with all three of mine. Due to all the toxins in the air, they couldn't be taken outside until they were at least twelve weeks old, preferably fifteen." Elisabeth cringes at the memory.

"You'd have had to drag me away in a strait jacket." Alicia frowns. "I can't imagine what that must have been like."

Shaking her head, Elisabeth changes the subject. "So, are you going to tell the commander your good news?" She smiles suggestively.

Alicia laughs. "No, not right now. He didn't even know I was asking about it. He's going OTG right after this, and he's been trying to find an excuse not to go. This would definitely make him stay." She smirks.

"Ah." Elisabeth nods but shoots her a questioning look. "Why doesn't he want to go?"

"Are you kidding? You've met him, right? The most over-protective husband and father of all time? After I threatened to kick his ass, he gave up treating me like I'm made of glass, but I imagine that he'll never give up treating the bug that way."

"Not you too!" At Alicia's confused expression, Elisabeth goes on, "You're calling her the bug now too?"

Alicia shrugs. "I tried to fight it, Elisabeth, but I don't have the energy for it. I figure I might as well join them, as I'm sure I can't beat them on this one." She gets a mischievous smile on her face. "And honestly, it's starting to grow on me, but if you tell Nathaniel I said that, I'll deny it."

As they exit the room, Elisabeth snorts. "Your secret's safe with me."

When they get back to the front of the infirmary, Zoe and Jim are there. Nathaniel is talking to Jim while Zoe, seated in a chair, carefully holds Gracie. As Alicia approaches, she hears Zoe say, "And I know you'll want to play with the dinosaurs, but not all of them are nice. Leah and I will teach you which ones will bite you and which ones won't."

Alicia and Elisabeth exchange an amused glance, and Alicia says, "Miss Zoe, I hope you do. She'll need to learn important things like that."

At that, Zoe beams up at her, snuggling Gracie close to her, Gracie focusing as well as she can on Zoe's face. "I think she likes me, Lieutenant Wash!"

Sitting next to Zoe and now having Jim and Nathaniel's attention too, Alicia nods. "I think she does too." She lowers her voice to a stage whisper, keeping her voice loud enough for the others to hear. "She cries when Reilly or Dunham try to hold her."

Alicia notices Jim, Nathaniel and Elisabeth all swallowing grins, but if possible, Zoe's smile gets even brighter. "Really?"

Alicia nods solemnly. "Really."

"Cool." Zoe goes back to looking down at Gracie, and Alicia looks up at the other three adults. They're all smiling, and Nathaniel has a soft look in his eyes. It's a look he only gets when she manages to surprise him by being silly or just friendly, usually with a child. He wears it often these days, probably owing to the fact that she spends a lot of time singing silly songs to Gracie or blowing raspberries on her neck trying to make her smile her first real smile.

Alicia's eyes meet Nathaniel's. "Don't we need to walk you to the gate?"

His face falls a little, and he sighs. "I guess so. Reynolds was getting my armor and pack from the command center. He's probably already waiting at the gate."

She turns and takes Gracie back from Zoe, and after settling her in the stroller, they head out. Once they've made the short walk to the gate, Nathaniel turns to her, clearly about to offer to stay. She holds up her hand. "We'll be fine. And how can I really grill Guz if you're there?"

He reaches out and pulls her to him, hugging her close. "I haven't been OTG since the Phoenix Group and Lucas…"

She suddenly realizes why he's so reluctant to go. The last time he was OTG was when the Phoenix Group tried to retake the colony – and when Lucas nearly killed her and the then-unborn Gracie. She wraps her arms tight around him and whispers fiercely, "I promise we'll be fine, Nathaniel. We'll even have Guz looking after us this evening, and he, Shannon and Carter all live within a minute's run. We're safe."

His arms tighten around her in response, and he presses his face into her neck. After standing there like that for a few moments, he releases a breath and pulls back enough to touch his forehead to hers, his eyes locking with hers. "I know that's the truth, I just can't quite convince myself of it. If anything ever happens to you and Gracie, I won't be OK, Alicia."

She slips her fingers through his hair, her hand coming to rest at the back of his neck. She leans up and kisses him softly, figuring they've already blown most of their no-PDA rules out of the water anyway. "I know." She doesn't try to argue or say more, because the truth is that if anything ever happens to him or Gracie, she won't be OK either.

He meets her eyes. Almost as though he can read her mind, his eyes soften as he gives her a slight nod. A voice from behind them makes them both jump. "Sir?" They turn to see Reynolds standing there. "We're all loaded up and ready to go."

Reynolds hands over Nathaniel's body armor. "Thanks, Reynolds. I'll be there in a moment."

"Yes sir." He steps back towards the rovers.

Nathaniel turns back to her. "I should go."

She gives him a game smile. "Yes, you should. I'll let you know if Guz and Shannon mess anything up."

He snorts at that and drops a kiss on her forehead. "My beautiful narc."

She swats at him, blushing lightly. "Go."

He winks at her. "Yes ma'am." With that, he bends down and runs gentle fingers down Gracie's little face, and then he turns and heads over to a rover.

Before getting into his own rover, Reynolds comes back over to Alicia. "Wash?" She looks up at him in surprise, and she sees that he looks nervous. "I want you to know this even though he doesn't. He's important to all of us and to the colony, and we try to keep an eye on him out there." His eyes stray to Gracie in her stroller. "We'll probably be even more watchful now."

Alicia knows she should likely scold Reynolds, but she can't find it in herself to do so. Instead, she just gives him a quick nod and quietly says, "Thanks, Mark. But look after yourselves, too."

"Always, ma'am." He grins at her, obviously relieved that she didn't yell at him.

She laughs and shakes her head. Even though she knows Nathaniel won't stand for any overprotective babying, Reynolds' words loosen the knot of tension that she didn't even realize had formed in her chest.

The rovers both roar to life, and she waves at them as they pull out. The gate lowers slowly behind them, and she can't help but wonder when she'll start going OTG again. She knows Nathaniel will try to put it off as long as possible, but she'll eventually be ready to get back to work full time.

She continues to think about it as she starts towards home. She can accept that it'll likely be a year before she goes OTG for more than a few hours. Since she's breastfeeding Gracie, an overnight will just be too hard, and she can admit that she won't be emotionally ready to leave Gracie overnight anytime soon, even with Nathaniel. At that thought, she scowls at herself and mutters, "Soft."

She hasn't walked much today, so she heads for home. She's going to feed Gracie again and then run for a while, just to see how she does. As much as she loves being at home with Gracie, she's ready to start getting back to herself. If running is all Elisabeth will let her do, then no matter how much she dislikes it, she'll do it.

She knows it's the first step towards normal for her. Suddenly, that thought makes her laugh softly, as she has no idea what "normal" is at this point. She has a child with Nathaniel, and they live in a colony millions of years in the past. The greatest threat they face these days is being eaten by dinosaurs. As she enters their small house, she mutters with a grin, "Maybe it's time to reassess the definition of normal."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Was requested to give you a little bit of Wash and Taylor dealing with a baby Gracie. Given my recent and current experience with baby minding, I plan to have a bit of fun with this.

And now, Guz and Wash hang out a bit…

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

_Later that Evening_

As Alicia quietly pulls the door to hers and Nathaniel's room closed, she hears a soft knock at the front door. She puts the receiver unit of the baby monitor on the kitchen counter and goes to let Guz in.

She opens the door to him, beckoning him in with a nod of her head. He enters with a bottle of Boylan's wine in hand. Quietly, he asks, "Is she down?"

She nods. "Yes, and you don't have to be quiet. Kid could sleep through a damned tornado."

He laughs softly at that. "Good to know. Can you have wine?"

She takes the bottle from him and heads to the kitchen with him following. "I can, only a glass or two, though. I pump so Nathaniel can give her at least one bottle a day, and I have back stock. I can give her a bottle for her next feed in a few hours."

He suddenly looks shy. "If I'm still here, can I try to give it to her?"

She'd been pulling two glasses out, and she turns and looks at him in surprise. "Really?"

He shrugs. "I was good with Tasha when she was a baby. I remember feeding her – you know, with the toxicity, no one could safely breastfeed in the future – and I loved it. I mean, if you prefer not…"

She walks over to him and puts a hand on his arm. "Guz, of course you can try to feed her. Shannon and Carter both have. She seems happy with whomever, so long as she's getting her food."

He grins. "Thanks, Wash. And smart kid."

She laughs and gestures to the barstool at the small breakfast bar at the end of the island where she's working, putting together a salad for them. As he sits, she says, "Now, no stalling. Talk to me about you and Mira."

He grimaces as he sits down. "What do you want to know?"

"Start with your use of the word 'serious' to describe your relationship, and we'll go from there." She continues chopping fresh vegetables, waiting for him to start.

He sighs. "I was hoping you were kidding about grilling me."

She lifts an incredulous eyebrow at him. "Right, because I'm so big with the jokes."

He chuckles. "Touché. And yes, serious is the right word. I haven't really dated since Tasha's mom. There were one night stands and convenience type partners, but that's all it was, Wash. It was just physical – I know you know what I mean." She looks a little confused. "You hooked up with one of the guys from my team back in Thailand, didn't you?"

A light blush rises on her cheeks. "God, you knew about that? Did anyone else know?"

It's his turn to look incredulous. "Yes, I knew, and so did Taylor – I'm sure that's who you're asking about – and I believe his words were along the lines of 'good for them.' I mean, hell, Wash, we'd just run a very messy op that left a lot of people dead. Even if those people were bad guys, that didn't make it any easier. If I'd've been able to find someone, I'd have had some meaningless sex that night myself."

"Hmm."

He blinks. "What was that hum about? It _was _meaningless sex, wasn't it? Ryans never said a word about you again, so I figure it was just a release and then, well, a release."

She looks down at the salad. "We didn't tell anyone. It wasn't a grand love affair or anything, but no, it wasn't meaningless sex, Guz. We became friends. We messaged back and forth for over a year, and we even met up again in Asia, when I had leave right before Somalia." She blinks a few times before looking up at him. "I was sorry to hear he'd died, Guz. Outside of Nathaniel and Ayani, he was the only person I let in during that time."

"Wash, I had no idea." He looks truly surprised.

"I know. Nathaniel still doesn't know about it, or at least I don't think he does. Like I said, it wasn't some big romance. But it was…comfort. Especially the correspondence. I'm sure, had he lived, we likely would have ended up as just friends. The sex part really was pretty meaningless – it was nice, but it wasn't what was important to me." She takes a deep breath, her thoughts turning for a moment to all the people they lost in the future. "Anyway, we're talking about you, not me."

He doesn't respond, just gets up and walks around to her, pulling her to him in a hug. "He was a good guy, one of my best friends in the unit. I'm glad the two of you stayed in touch, Wash. I'm glad you two had that connection."

She nods. "I hadn't thought about him in a long, long time."

He releases her and goes back to his seat. "Neither had I. We need to get Taylor to babysit one night, and we'll go to Boylan's and swap stories about him." She nods, and then gives him an expectant look. "OK, OK. Yes, it's getting serious with us. She's a little gun shy, and she's grieving Sienna. I think it's been hard for her to acknowledge that she'll never see her again, never will know what happened to her. I'd be the same way if it was Tasha, and I know you get it now too."

"Is she going to be OK, Guz?"

He frowns a little. "She has good days and bad days. The good days have become the overwhelming majority, but when the bad days hit, they're really bad." He looks up at her. "I try to help her on those days, but she pushes me away. Honestly, Alicia, I don't know what to say to her that would make it better. I still have Tasha, I was able to get her here. I even feel guilty about that every now and then now, though I know that's somewhat irrational."

Alicia is quiet for a moment before offering, "Isaac, all you can do is be there for her, and make sure she knows that you're there. In the end, that's probably more than she's had in a very long time."

"I know, it just doesn't feel like enough."

"Trust me, Guz. When you've been alone a long time, realizing that you're not alone anymore is a pretty big deal. I've been there." She gives him a sad smile.

He gives her a quizzical look, but then he appears to realize something. "How old were you when your parents died?"

"I don't even remember that much about my dad, I was so young. Mom died several years later, when I was fourteen. Cancer. We lived outside the domes, of course." She picks up the salad and moves to the already-set table. He follows with the glasses and the wine, pouring some for each of them.

As they sit down, he asks, "Did you end up with family?"

She shakes her head. "No, I didn't have any family to speak of. I was on my own."

"You went to a home, right? An orphanage? You were still just a kid."

"No. I just lived on the streets until I was seventeen and could join up." He looks surprised and she shrugs. "I was a pretty resourceful kid, Guz. I did stay in shelters a lot to sleep. They didn't ask why I was alone, and I wasn't sharing. I just slept there, everything I owned in a backpack that I used as a pillow so no one could take it, and I got by. Mom had been a nurse, and I learned a lot from her. We'd go out and help people when we could. I kept doing it after she passed. People would often feed me in exchange."

"Did Taylor know your history when he chose you to be his medic?"

She snorts, smiling this time. "No. Bastard stumbled into one of the general med tents, holding his side together with his hand, irritated and complaining that his unit made him come in. I might've been _mildly _insubordinate and sarcastic, and when he left the med tent, he had me in tow."

He cocks his head at her. "You know, now that I think of it, he barks at anyone who smarts off _except _you. Though I'll admit it was rare that I've ever seen you do it in front of anyone else, especially back in the future. Even in Thailand, long before you had a personal relationship, I saw you do it once. He looked annoyed, as I recall, but didn't say anything."

"To be fair, Guz, I had a personal relationship with Nathaniel almost from day one." At Guz's surprised expression, she clarifies, "It wasn't like that. He and Ayani adopted me as some sort of confusing daughter-sister-cousin-aunt-whatever. Nathaniel has basically been my best friend since I was a teenager. I know that sounds weird, but after my mom died, I had a wall around me, at least emotionally. He and Ayani just sort of ignored it, scaled it, broke it down – however you want to look at it."

"You were close to his first wife? I didn't realize that."

Alicia gets up and goes over to a bookshelf. She picks up a picture and brings it back to the kitchen, handing it to Guz. It's a picture of herself and Ayani, covered in flour and laughing. He smiles at the image and looks up at her. "Is that…?"

She nods. "That's me and Ayani, Christmas of 2137, the year before she was killed. It was literally the seventh Christmas I spent with them. The first leave we had after I joined Nathaniel's unit, he realized that I wasn't packing up to go somewhere like the rest of the unit was. When he asked me why I was staying on base, I told him the truth – I've never been able to lie to him – I didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to see."

Guz offers her the picture back, and she takes it, looking at it for a moment before putting it down on the table. "He just sort of grunted at that, and he disappeared. I figured I'd see him again when he got back, but thirty minutes later, he was standing at my bunk again. He told me to pack a bag, and when I tried to argue, he made it an order. In the thirty minutes he was gone, he'd called Ayani. She didn't just agree that I come home with him, she demanded it. When I got there, she treated me like a member of the family. There was never any discussion of it – I was just told that this was home from now on, even if only I got leave and Nathaniel didn't."

"She sounds like a piece of work, and I mean that in a good way." Guz smiles at her.

Alicia returns the smile, but she knows it doesn't really reach her eyes. Thinking about her friend still makes her heart hurt. "She was. I was eighteen, and I'd been alone for four years. Ayani told me in no uncertain terms that that was four years too long and that I wasn't alone anymore. I was bewildered by it. I had no idea what she saw in me. Honestly, I never did. But I was grateful for it." She falls silent, staring at her wine as she swirls it in the glass.

He changes the subject then, looking chagrined at making her sad. She smiles at him to let him know it's OK, but she admits that she's grateful for the switch.

A couple of hours later, they've eaten and done the dishes, and it's after ten. She's grinning. "So Tasha actually asked her what her intentions were? Seriously?"

He laughs. "She did. Good thing Mira understands feeling protective, though I think she was amused by my kid, weighing maybe a buck ten soaking wet, trying to get in her face. I kind of wish I'd gotten to see it all. I only caught the end and dragged Tasha away."

"I bet Mira thought it was hilarious." Alicia smirks.

He gets a cocky smile on his face. "She did. She also used the opportunity to _demonstrate _her intentions to me. For the record, I completely approve of said intentions."

Alicia snorts at that. "I'm glad you're now able to start amassing overshare-able information just like we have."

He rolls his eyes. "I honestly surprised I haven't heard the conception story."

As Gracie suddenly begins to fuss, she gives him a cheeky smile. "Guz, you already know that story. Us chased by nykos, forced to overnight in a cave, did it three times, came back with matching hickeys and, apparently, a baby."

"You think it was that night, and wait, Taylor can manage three times in one night? He's fifty-five!"

She just grins and heads for the bedroom to fetch Gracie. "Get one of the bottles from the fridge and put it in hot water for a few minutes. I'll get her diaper changed."

Five minutes later, she's helping Guz settle in the rocking chair with Gracie. She hands him the bottle, and Gracie takes it without protest. Alicia goes around lowering the lights, and then she settles on the sofa to watch Guz and Gracie. His eyes stray to a small rocking chair, a replica of the one he sits in, placed next to the sofa. "Where did you get that?" he asks quietly.

She looks at the mini-rocker and back at Guz. "Carter." He looks confused, so she goes on, "He saw the chair you're in and apparently thought Gracie needed one of her own. He just built it and brought it over. He's funny, you know? He's this badass guy, loves to fight, loves to shoot his mouth off, but he is in love with Gracie."

"He cares a lot about you too." She nods in acknowledgement, and he looks thoughtful as he pauses in feeding Gracie to burp her. "You know, he's been far easier to work with than I expected him to be when we let him join my security team, but he's uneasy right now."

"Why?" Alicia is honestly surprised by that.

"He hasn't said so, but I think he's worried that Taylor's going to find a way to punish him."

"For what?"

Guz looks incredulous. "For killing Lucas, Wash."

Alicia blinks. "Guz, he did it to save my life, and honestly, it was a mercy killing. Nathaniel knows that. Lucas was lost to Nathaniel, and he was completely insane. In a way, I think Nathaniel is grateful to Carter, both for putting Lucas out of his misery and for being the one to do it instead of Nathaniel having to try to do it himself. It wasn't what he wanted, but I think he knew that it was what had to happen."

Guz nods. "You trust him completely, don't you? Carter, I mean."

"Oddly enough, yes, I do." She gives him a crooked smile. "We're just on the same wavelength in a lot of ways."

He looks down at Gracie briefly and then back up at Alicia. "But you don't trust Mira the same way yet." She opens her mouth to speak, but he just says, "Don't lie, Alicia. You know you don't."

"It's not a simple thing, Guz."

"I know, but I wonder why you don't." He gives her something of a hard look.

She's silent for a moment. "I'd like to say it's because she hit me in the face with the butt of a rifle." He snorts. "But really, it's because her motivation was real, and it's a motivation I respect. If I thought it was possible for the portal to reopen tomorrow, Guz, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she bolted to go find Sienna."

"She probably would. But Wash, she wouldn't sacrifice us. She'd go for Sienna, but it wouldn't be at the cost of all of this. I truly believe that."

She holds his gaze for a few moments, and then she nods. "OK, Guz. You know, don't you, that it's not personal. It's actually that I get it now. I actually wouldn't have before, not really." Her eyes stray to Gracie, finished with her bottle, now quietly nuzzling into Guz's arms. "But I get it now."

"I know you do, Wash. And I know it's about protecting the colony and your family, not about a real distrust or dislike of Mira." He hands the nearly back to sleep Gracie over to her.

"Give me a sec," she asks, and he nods. She goes to the bedroom and places Gracie back in her bassinet. Gently closing the door behind her, she comes back to the living area. He's standing, looking at all the photos on the shelves.

He turns to her. "I wasn't trying to put you on the spot, Alicia, but I realize that I kind of did."

She shakes her head. "You didn't. And I don't want us back where we were – you thinking I don't approve. I do. Some things are just harder to shake off than others. I mean really," she shoots a game smile at him, "Rifle butt to the face, Isaac."

He chuckles and actually reaches out to hug her into his side. "She said you were probably still sore about that."

She laughs. "I'll have you know that it hurt. A lot. And I had a headache for days."

"Taylor nearly killed her and Carter both that day, didn't he?" He leans away, giving her a questioning look.

"Yes. I saw it in his eyes when they pushed us out from behind the rhinos. Honestly, the last time I'd seen him that straight-up pissed off was when that drunk senator groped me at the fundraiser party back in 2141." She shudders at the memory.

"Man, that was a shitty night." He notes, and she laughs quietly.

"It really was."

"You looked pretty hot, though."

"Shut up, Guz."

"Yes ma'am." He laughs again. "I should go and let you get some sleep. How long will she be down this time?"

"She's up to about four or five hours before I'll have to feed her again. The eleven to four stretch is a nice one. It has been growing on its own, too, which is great."

"She's a great baby, Wash. So damned cute and easy going. I swear she'll have the colony wrapped around her little finger inside of six months, if not sooner." He releases her. "Now go sleep, Mama."

She smiles up at him, "OK." She walks him to the door. "I had a good time tonight, Guz. And I really am happy – and for both of you. I wish we could do something to get Sienna here, you know?"

"I know, and she knows too." He steps outside. "Good night, Wash."

She smiles. "Good night, my friend."

"And Wash? If you ever need a babysitter, you can call."

"I'll add your name to the list." She smirks. "It's long."

"I bet." He's laughing as he leaves with a wave.

She closes the door behind him, glad that they had this evening. Before the pilgrimages began growing their population significantly, the three of them, she, Nathaniel and Guz, spent a lot of time together. She makes a mental note that they need to try hard to spend time with him and, by extension now, with Mira. She shakes her head, amused by that notion. If she'd told herself a year ago that she'd be sorting out when to have Mira over for dinner, she'd have laughed hard. What a difference a year makes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Was requested to give you a little bit of Wash and Taylor dealing with a baby Gracie.

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

_Four Months Later_

Returning from placing a fed and sleeping Gracie in the small crib in an alcove of the office, Alicia says, "Nathaniel, I…"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so, Lieutenant."

She arches an eyebrow at him and crosses her arms across her chest, both at his reason and at his use of her rank. "That's what you're going with?"

He assumes a mirror pose, leaning back against his desk. "You do realize that this is one of those military times when I get to call the shots, right?"

She narrows her eyes at him. "And you do realize that Elisabeth fully cleared me for active duty six weeks ago, right?"

"I do. I saw the report on my desk. And I've let you take over the hand to hand training sessions with the troops in addition to your weight training and cardio. But I'm not letting you go OTG yet. You're not ready." He levels a hard look at her.

"It's three hours, Nathaniel. It's a quick resupply to the closest outpost. Mira and I can go and be back in _three hours_." She walks up to him and places a hand on his very tense arm. "I have to get back on the horse at some point, and this is a perfect run for that. And you're wrong. I _am _ready."

"I get to be the judge of that."

She frowns. "You're being a horse's ass."

He stands up straight. "You're pushing it, Alicia."

She rolls her eyes and withdraws her hand. "Fine. You're being a horse's ass, _sir_." She turns on her heel and heads for the door just as Guz comes in.

"Where do you think you're going, and what about Gracie?" He calls out from behind her, clearly irritated.

She turns back with a glare. "Since I'm apparently not fit for duty, I figure I don't belong here. Gracie is asleep, and you know what to do if she wakes up. If she's hungry, I've been stocking the freezer here. Sort it out." Without waiting for his reply, she turns again, totally ignoring Guz, and storms out.

"Sir?" Guz gives Nathaniel a puzzled look. "What just happened? And why isn't Wash fit for duty?"

Nathaniel throws his hands up in the air. "I never said she wasn't fit for duty!"

Guz comes further into the room and closes the door behind him. He smirks. "Glad to hear it, sir, because if she's not fit for duty neither am I, considering how easily she kicked my ass yesterday afternoon."

At Nathaniel's questioning look, Guz goes on, "Taylor, we've been working out five days a week since the doc cleared her for hand to hand. The first week was tough for her. She tired easily, and her reactions were slow. Less than three weeks after that, she was taking two out of every three from me. For the last week, I haven't even been able to take her to the mat, much less take a round from her. She's _at least _one hundred percent. She may be in better shape than she was before the baby."

"She wants to go OTG."

Guz nods. "I know. She and Mira were planning a trip out to the closest outpost. She told me she was going to talk to you about it." He hesitates. "Taylor, she's got crazy bad cabin fever, and she's starting to feel a little useless. She wanted to wait to bring it up because she knew you'd push back, so she thought if she was one hundred percent, you'd be OK with it."

Nathaniel blinks, and then he looks even more irritated. "Why do _you_ know that and _I _don't?"

Guz holds his hands up. "I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to anyway. Sir, she knows you're still going to be protective, that everything that happened scared the hell out of you. You've been so damned happy, she didn't want to mess it up. And frankly, even if she underestimated your reaction to her request to go today, I didn't. We didn't have a meeting scheduled, so why do you think I'm here right now?"

"Guz…" Nathaniel's voice takes on a warning tone.

"Taylor, all due respect, but you need to let her get back to work for real. It's who she is, just like being protective is who you are. Wash can take care of herself, and she's more than ready. The issue here isn't that _she_ isn't ready. The issue is that _you _aren't ready. And I get that, sir, but if you're going to push her on it, you at least need to respect her enough to be honest about it, with her and with yourself."

Nathaniel looks pissed for a moment, but Guz doesn't look away or back down. Eventually, Nathaniel sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I lost her once, Guz, and then I almost lost her again. I can't…"

Guz steps over to him. "Taylor, I know. Believe me. But you need to talk to her, and to be fair, _she_ needs to talk to _you_. And you need to realize that this is who she is – and last time I checked, you were pretty fond of her – I'm assuming that means you don't really want to change her."

Nathaniel nods. "Can you stay here and keep an eye on Gracie? She should nap for an hour or so, and there's milk in the freezer."

"On it, boss. Try the gym, and if she's not there, the training course. She's probably working off a little steam." Guz gives him a knowing look.

"Thanks, Guz."

A few minutes later, Nathaniel enters the gym, and he immediately spots her at one of the punching bags. She's attacking it rather viciously, and he's suddenly reminded of another time, way back when the colony was in the planning stages. He'd upset her then too, and she'd gone and taken it out on a bag, just as she is now.

He sees Reynolds and two younger soldiers nearby. The gym is otherwise empty. Nathaniel goes over to them. "Give us the room, Reynolds."

Mark nods. "Yes sir. Is she OK?"

"Not sure. Keep others out too, Reynolds. And thanks."

The young man looks as though he's going to say something else, but he holds his tongue and just leads the other two out. Nathaniel watches them go, and once the door closes behind him, he walks over to his clearly angry wife. He knows she's aware of his presence, but she doesn't stop her assault on the bag. He just steps up to it and holds it for her.

After a few essentially killing blows, she finally looks at him. Unfortunately, her look is, at best, an icy glare. "What do you want, Nathaniel?"

He cocks an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you going to ask me where Gracie is?"

"No. I know you'd leave her with someone who'll take care of her. Because, you know, I actually _trust _you."

Her inflection isn't lost on him, and he can't help but sigh. "Alicia."

"You made your feelings very clear earlier, Commander. You obviously have decided that you can't trust my own judgment about myself." She hits the bag. "So, I'm honestly not sure why you're here. It's not like my opinion matters." She hits it again, so hard that the vibrations actually sting his own hands a little.

"Alicia, stop, please." Something in his tone must get her attention, because she does in fact stop, looking up at him. "I'm sorry, Alicia."

She eyes him critically. "For what?"

"For pretending this is about you and your readiness. It isn't. It's about me."

She blinks in surprise before lifting an eyebrow. "Well, that's not what I expected you to say."

He lets loose a self-deprecating laugh. "Without Guz being mildly insubordinate, I probably wouldn't have been willing to acknowledge it." He looks down briefly, and then he looks back up at her, meeting her eyes, startling her with the pain apparent in them. "I'm the one who isn't ready, Alicia."

She pulls off her protective gloves and walks over to him, prompting him to get a small smile on his face. She tilts her head at him. "What?"

"If you start hitting the bag again, don't forget to put your gloves back on this time."

It takes her a moment before she remembers the argument they had almost ten years ago that led to her going after a similar bag without her gloves. She smirks. "Maybe you want me to. That'd keep me inside the gate a while longer."

He shakes his head. "I don't want you hurt, not at all."

"Nathaniel…"

"Alicia, I _watched_ you die. I lost you, and then I got you back. Then I almost lost you _again_. I don't know how to get past this. It's paralyzing. I need you safe."

She places a hand on his face. "I know Guz, our resident busybody, has likely already talked to you, but Nathaniel, I need to get back to normal. I love being Alicia Taylor, Gracie's mom and your wife, but I need to be Alicia Washington too. That's who I am at my core. I need you to let me be both."

He reaches out and pulls her to him. Pressing his face into her neck, he mumbles. "I know."

She runs her fingers through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. "You know I'm always careful. More so than you are, for the record."

He huffs out a light laugh into her neck. "Trying to tell me something, Lieutenant?"

This time, she doesn't bristle at his use of her rank, as she knows he's not using it to emphasize his command role. She leans back from him, and he lifts his head, meeting her eyes. "Maybe. I just wonder if you realize that I don't really sleep when _you're _OTG. That I just toss and turn. That when I actually do sleep, it's usually punctuated with nightmares."

He furrows his brow at that. She shakes her head. "Nathaniel, just because I've never had to watch you die doesn't mean that I'm not terrified that I'll lose you one day. That something will happen to you and we'll be alone. But I knew that's what I was signing up for. I just thought you knew the same thing about me."

He doesn't say anything, and she goes on, "I know you left me behind for the eleventh because you were worried something might happen and you wanted to keep me safe. I know that's what you always want to do – but please don't keep doing this to me, Nathaniel. I need to be in the field."

He sighs, dropping his head back to her neck. "I think I had some delusional hope that you wouldn't want to go OTG anymore once you had Gracie." He looks up, and seeing that her eyes narrowed slightly again, he goes on, "But Guz pointed out that if I love you so damned much, maybe changing you is not what I want to do. And he's right. I love _you_, and I know this is who you are. This is my issue."

He steps back, gripping her shoulders with his hands. "You can go with Mira. And I'm sorry I was such a, what did you call me? Horse's ass."

"I'm sorry too, Nathaniel. I should have talked to you, not Guz. He's a good sounding board, but you're the one I should be talking to. I just didn't want to upset you. It had been years since I saw you this happy. I just didn't want to screw it up."

He gives her a crooked smile. "Now who's the protective one?"

She returns the smile. "Turnabout is fair play." She pauses. "Who _did _you leave Gracie with?"

He chuckles at that. "Guz, the aforementioned busybody."

"Good call. She likes him."

"As opposed to?"

"Well, she still resists Dunham and Reilly, though she seems to be warming up to them a little." She grins at him.

"I've noticed her pushing back on Reilly. You can tell that it really bothers her. I actually feel a little sorry for her." He watches as she gathers her bag.

Suddenly, she looks around, puzzled. "Where did Reynolds and his two trainees go?"

He shrugs. "I might have kicked them out."

She whacks his arm. "Nathaniel!"

"Did you really want anyone else to get to listen in on that conversation?"

"Fair enough." As they leave the gym, Alicia has to laugh, because Reynolds is standing there looking concerned, his two trainees standing back looking slightly intimidated, likely by the presence of the leader and 2IC of the colony. "Sorry we kicked you out. It's all yours." He still looks concerned, so she gives him a reassuring look. "I'm fine, Mark."

He nods, but he still shoots something of a warning glare at Nathaniel before beckoning to the two trainees to follow him back into the gym. Nathaniel just laughs softly as they head towards command. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Get the entire damned military and a whole lot of the civilians to be so protective of you. If looks could kill, the one Reynolds just shot me would have dropped me on the spot."

She laughs. "No idea. Apparently they just like me better than they like you."

"Ha ha. When do you think you and Mira will go?" He drops a hand to her lower back as they walk, clearly still uncomfortable with the idea of her going.

"It's already midday, so we'll wait and go tomorrow morning. I'll let her know."

"Then will you have lunch with your overprotective husband?" He gives her a game smile.

She leans up and presses a kiss to his cheek. "I'd love to. Let's go collect Gracie first."

"Sounds good."

Ignoring their usual on-duty boundaries, she reaches behind her, covering his hand on her back with her own hand, entwining their fingers. He lifts their hands, pressing a kiss to the back of hers and giving her a grateful look. She holds his hand the rest of the way back to the command center.

**WT**WT**WT**

The next morning, with Gracie in her stroller he stands next to Alicia watching some of the newer soldiers load up two rovers with supplies that Alicia and Mira, along with Reilly and two others, will be delivering to the nearby outpost. Mira and Guz are also standing by, and Guz loads Mira's gear into one of the rovers for her.

It's a cool early-winter morning, and Alicia is glad of it. The turtleneck top she pulled on against the chill does well to cover up what Nathaniel did to her collarbone the night before. She has to swallow a grin as she thinks about it. She isn't sure what triggered it, but he was in one of his "I must mark my woman" moods last night – considering he hasn't been that way in a while, she didn't mind at all.

She jumps a little at the sound of his voice in her ear. "What's that smile about?"

She turns to him and pecks him on the lips. "What do you think it's about?"

He grins. "Hope it's not sore."

She rolls her eyes. "It's not. It _is _colorful, though." As he laughs, she leans down and scoops Gracie up out of the stroller, snuggling her close in to her chest. One of Gracie's small hands grips Alicia's top, and she nuzzles her face into Alicia's neck. "You be good for Daddy, my baby Bug." She hugs her tight, and Gracie makes a little snort of protest. Alicia smiles at that. She knows she needs to hand her over to Nathaniel, but she suddenly finds that she can't.

Nathaniel must sense her turmoil, because he steps up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her to his chest. He drops a kiss to her neck and whispers, "She'll be fine, and so will you."

Alicia nods wordlessly, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. A moment later, she takes a deep breath and turns around. He releases her and allows her to pass Gracie to him. She still fits easily in the crook of his large arm, and he tucks her close to his chest. She blinks at Alicia and then up at Nathaniel before settling down against him and closing her eyes.

Alicia expels a breath. "OK." She leans forward and drops a kiss on Gracie's forehead. She looks up at Nathaniel, and he leans down and kisses her quickly. "We'll be back this afternoon. There's plenty of milk in the fridge at home and at the command center."

"I know, Alicia. I promise we'll be all right. And I'd wager that most of our friends will check on us at some point. Maddy, Skye and Deborah have all told me to expect them, and so has Sam and Leah Marcos' mom. Shannon and Carter threatened visits too." He gives her an amused smile. "They all seem to doubt my ability to mind my own child for a few hours."

She smirks at him, appreciating his deflection of the conversation to something humorous. "Maybe they heard about your plans for a Baby Obstacle Course for when she starts crawling."

He snorts. "Well, I always say that it's never too early to work on physical fitness."

She shakes her head and leans up to press another kiss to his lips. "Thanks for the distraction."  
He just nods and follows her as she picks up her pack and another bag and puts them in the same rover Guz put Mira's stuff into.

He appears to realize what the second bag is. "You're taking your pump? You should be back in a few hours."

She turns and gives Nathaniel an incredulous look. "With my luck? No way am I depending on that. If I don't bring it, you know I'll need it. And let me be clear – when I need to pump and wait too long? It _hurts_."

He winces. "Good point on both. But I'm sure you won't need it."

She rolls her eyes. "Can you not say things like that? It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull named Fate." Almost automatically, she leans down and checks her pistol.

"Sorry." He chuckles, not sounding at all contrite.

"Sure you are." She grins and grabs her armor from where she had it attached to her pack.

As Alicia gets her armor on and tightened, Mira and Guz approach. As she often does, Mira still wears her regular clothing as opposed to fatigues, but she's also wearing armor similar to Alicia's. "Ready to go?"

Alicia nods. She leans forward and drops one last lingering kiss on Gracie's forehead. Before she starts to get emotional, she just murmurs, "I'll see you soon," to Nathaniel and she goes around to the driver's side of the rover.

Nathaniel calls after her, "Be safe, Alicia."

"Will do, Commander." She uses his title with a flippant tone in her voice, and he laughs and motions with his free arm for her to go.

Guz and Nathaniel, still holding Gracie, step back from the rovers as Reilly and Alicia power them up, and Alicia gives Nathaniel one last wave. He returns it, and Guz calls up to the guards to open the gate.

As the two rovers pull out, Nathaniel furrows his brow. "They'll be fine, Taylor." Guz's voice makes him start a little.

He looks down at Gracie and then at Guz. "I know. It's just different than it used to be, you know? There's so much more at risk now."

Guz puts a hand on Nathaniel's shoulder and squeezes. "I do know, sir. You two will be fine too, by the way."

"Need help with anything?" The two men turn to see Jim and Zoe walk up, and Carter is right behind them. Zoe, out of school because it's a Saturday, goes over and takes command of the empty stroller, putting a stuffed toy in it and pushing it around in a circle.

Carter smirks as he and Jim get to Guz and Nathaniel. "Not that we think you can't handle it or anything."

Nathaniel just exchanges a look with Guz and, ignoring Carter and Jim, turns to head towards the command center. "Miss Shannon, would you like to push the Bug in the stroller?"

"Yes sir!" comes her excited reply.

He settles Gracie in the stroller, and says, "OK, with me then, Miss Shannon. Not too fast and look out for bumps." He still is pointedly ignoring Carter and Jim, and Guz is laughing at the irked looks on their faces.

Without ever acknowledging the two of them, Nathaniel leads Zoe towards command, asking her about school. As he walks, he hears Jim ask Guz, "What just happened?"

Nathaniel swallows a laugh at Guz's reply. "Gee, Shannon, I wonder if he's a little annoyed by everyone's clear assumption that while the man can lead a colony and beat anyone you throw at him in hand to hand, he can't take care of a baby for three hours?"

"Commander Taylor, sir?"

Zoe's voice gets his attention again. "Yes, Miss Shannon?"

"Dad and Mister Carter think you need help, but I don't. I think you can do _anything_."

He grins. "Thank you, Miss Shannon. And you know, even though I don't _need _help, I was wondering if you'd like to play with Gracie some today?"

"Really?" At his nod, she says, "I would! I can play with her and change her diaper, Mom showed me how, and I can even give her a bottle if you want!"

He smiles. "That would be very nice, Miss Shannon. You can be our helper for the day."

"Cool!" She chatters as they walk towards the command center, telling him and Gracie what they'll do today. He can't help but smile, even as he wonders why so many people expect him to be incapable of taking care of Gracie on his own. He can recognize that having Zoe there will help but will also require him to watch not one but two kids.

Guz catches up with him, and he has a knowing smile on his face. "Trying to prove something, sir?"

As they trail behind Zoe and Gracie, Nathaniel laughs. "I've become really easy to read, haven't I?"

"I don't think Shannon or Carter noticed, but I've known you a long time, Taylor. And as far as I'm concerned? Genius. Proving a point and still getting help, executed with military precision. Well done, sir. You and those ladies have a good day."

"You too, Guz, and not a word to Shannon and Carter."

"Secret's safe with me, sir." With a slightly mocking salute, Guz heads off.

"Commander?"

He hears Zoe and catches up with her, where she now stands with Elisabeth. "Doc. What can we do for you?"

Elisabeth is wearing a smile similar to the one Guz was just wearing. "Jim just called and said you'd taken off with Zoe. Since it's an extra mouth for you to feed, I thought I'd offer to have lunch with you and the girls here. Thought maybe we could meet up in the market? Zoe was supposed to see Leah Marcos at lunch today anyway, so her mom said she'd meet us there too."

He lifts an eyebrow at Elisabeth, and she just smirks. He can't help but laugh and shake his head. "Sounds good, Doc. We'll be there. Noon?"

"I'll let Leah's mother know. See you then. Zoe, you behave for the commander please." Elisabeth actually _winks _at him and walks away.

He has to admit it's amusing. It's clear that he's going to be taken care of whether he wants it or not. As he follows Zoe up the ramp to command, he figures he might as well just go with the flow. At least it's keeping his mind off of Alicia being OTG, and it'll be a funny story for her when she gets back this afternoon.

"Commander?" At his questioning look, Zoe asks, "Can I be Gracie's first _official _babysitter?"

He smiles. "I think that's an excellent idea, Miss Shannon. Consider yourself official."

"Cool!"

The smile she gives him in return is so bright that he actually considers getting her a badge or something made declaring her official babysitter status. He makes a mental note to talk to a market vendor he knows could create something, and he watches as Zoe spreads Gracie's quilt on the floor and settles down with her there, surrounded by toys from the little alcove on the office.

He goes to work on some requests from colonists while listening to Zoe explain each toy to Gracie, who kicks and squeals happily at the attention. He suddenly wishes that Alicia was here, if only to hear Zoe explain the difference between "good dinosaurs" and "mean dinosaurs" to a five and a half month old. His eyes stray to a photo on his desk, a picture of Alicia holding Gracie, and he softly repeats the words he said to her right before she left. "Be safe, Alicia."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Yeah, I'm back with this one! So sorry I've taken so long to update! It may be another gap after this, as I'm about to try NaNoWriMo, so we'll see.

**Since it has been so long since chapter 4, to recap, Alicia talked Nathaniel into letting her go OTG for the first time after Gracie's birth. She, Mira and Reilly took two privates and headed out on a short supply run to a nearby outpost, leaving a worried Nathaniel to babysit…what could possibly go wrong?**

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

As their rover cuts through the trees, Alicia can feel Mira's eyes on her. "What?"

Mira laughs softly. "Sorry. I'm just fascinated. I've never seen you so reluctant to leave before." Alicia briefly looks away from the terrain in front of her to cut her eyes at Mira, who holds her hands up apologetically. "Hey, no offense intended. Believe me, I know better than anyone how hard it is to leave your baby behind, even if only for a short time."

Alicia's expression softens. "Mira, I'm sorry, I…"

Mira interrupts her. "Stop, Wash. It's fine, and please don't make me try to talk about it. I can't." Her voice goes quiet on the last two words, an easy sign of her emotion turmoil over it.

Alicia nods. "We could talk about guns instead. Or about beating up Carter. That's a nice, safe, fun-filled topic."

With a snort, Mira laughs softly. "I haven't done that in a while. May have to get him to spar with me soon."

"He and Shannon are both so ridiculously protective of me that I think they gave Guz a hard time for starting hand-to-hand with me again." She shakes her head.

"They did," Mira confirms, "He thought it was hilarious."

They drive for a while in silence, the second rover close behind them. Eventually, Mira says, "I saw you packing your pump. How often do you have to use it?"

"Theoretically, I shouldn't need it. I just fed Gracie before we left and pumped a little after that. I should be good for between at least three to four hours." She cuts her eyes briefly at Mira again. "_Theoretically._"

Mira laughs loud at that. "I'd have brought it too. Do these little outings _ever _go as planned?"

"Sometimes, but not often." Realizing that they're closing in on the outpost, Alicia activates her comm using an open channel so their whole group can hear. "Washington to Outpost One. Come in please."

A moment later, a voice crackles back over the connection. "Oh, thank God, Lieutenant, this is Doctor Thomas. We need assistance!"

Furrowing her brow, Alicia keeps her voice calm while pressing the accelerator to increase their speed. "We're there in ten minutes or so. What is the situation, Doctor?"

"Miss Cahill was running and she fell. I think she has a sprained ankle." The man sounds distracted as he mentions his lab assistant on his research project, a young woman in training to become a botanist.

"Doc. That's it?" Alicia can't hide her impatience. Then, in the background, she hears a roar. She and Mira exchange a glance. "Doc, what the hell was that?"

"Sorry Lieutenant. That was the carno that was chasing Miss Cahill. I think he's a little angry that she got back inside."

Alicia rolls her eyes. "Doc, next time I ask you for a situation report, please mention the giant predator dinosaurs first." She hears Mira snort. "Have you radioed the colony?"

"No ma'am. I tried, but I think it broke the transmitter." He pauses. "It may be getting close to giving up, Lieutenant. The roars and attacks on the fence and outer perimeter seem to be more spaced out now."

Alicia sighs. "Understood, Doc. We're on our way. You're just three there, correct?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. Doctor Winstead, Miss Cahill and me."

"OK, Doc. Stand by. If we need you to do anything, we'll call." The scientist nervously agrees and closes the call. She taps the comm again for another open channel. "Reilly?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"I'm going to stop in a moment. I want one of your guys to jump in with Mira and me. We're going to be your distraction." Alicia glances at Mira who just nods. "Make sure he has a sonic. I want him in behind me so we can shoot at it from both sides of the rover."

"Ma'am, are you sure? We can draw it…"

"Reilly! That's an order. We'll draw it off, you get those scientists loaded up and you run. Are we clear?" Alicia knows they don't have time for a discussion. The upside is, if this works, they'll be home even faster than they expected to be, because they'll be hauling ass back to Terra Nova. She calls the outpost again and tells them to be at the door, ready to go.

Alicia skids to a stop, and Reilly stops next to her. In seconds, a young soldier with a large sonic rifle climbs in behind Alicia. With a stiff nod to Reilly, Alicia takes off for the outpost. "Private Jackson, Mira, get ready," when she gets an affirmative and hears the pulse rifles power up, she assumes they're ready and presses the accelerator all the way to the floor. "Hold on!"

She has to mentally pause for a moment. She knows she should be scared right now, but all she feels is alive. She laughs softly to herself, shaking her head. They hear a roar ahead, and Alicia shoots a look at Mira, who gives her a feral grin. "Welcome back, Lieutenant." She pulls herself to a standing position on the side of the rover, pulse rifle ready.

The outpost and the carno attacking it come into view. Alicia heads the rover straight for it, and a moment later, she hears the pulse rifles discharge and another roar from the carno. It turns towards them, and she yells, "Turning, hold on! Let me know when it starts for us!"

She slams on the brakes and turns the rover hard. Once they're turned, she sees Mira smoothly turn around and start firing again. Seconds later, more rifle blasts tell her that the private has done the same.

At another carno roar and the sound of pounding steps, Mira yells, "We have its attention, go Wash! Go!"

That's all she needs. She guns the engine, shooting off into the forested area and hoping they don't encounter any downed trees or other barriers. She taps her comm. "Reilly, call me when you have the scientists and are at least two clicks into the trip back."

"Yes ma'am!"

For the next fifteen minutes, Alicia zigzags their rover through the trees, leading the beast away from the outpost in the opposite direction of the colony. The trees make it such that Mira and Private Jackson can just occasionally fire off a round to keep it interested. It can't get near enough to them to require constant shooting.

Alicia starts to get nervous as the trees begin to get thicker. She's about to veer off in a new direction when her comm chirps. "Lieutenant? We're two clicks away from the outpost, en route to Terra Nova."

She lets out a breath and begins a slow circle back towards Terra Nova. "Thanks, Reilly. You go as fast as you can without compromising safety. When you get to the colony, get them ready to fire the sonics at this son of a bitch. I have a bad feeling that it's still going to be on our ass."

"Got it, ma'am. Be safe." The younger woman sounds concerned.

"You too, Reilly. See you soon." Alicia tries to sound reassuring. Just under ten minutes later Alicia yells, "Hang on tight, you two. We're about to pass the open area near the outpost, and I'm going to floor it. Can't have this bastard making up ground. And, I don't think I need to tell you this, but you don't need to keep firing at it to keep it interested. If it wants to go away, that's just peachy. Got it?"

She knows the message was received by both when Mira's hand comes down and gives her a thumbs up and the private thumps twice on the back of her seat. They hit the open area, and she pushes the accelerator to the floor. They fly through the space at top speed, and while she hears the beast roaring, it doesn't sound like it's gaining much ground, if any.

She takes a deep breath, knowing that even at high speed, it'll take them forty minutes to get home. She listens closely as they fly through the trees, this path more established and allowing them more speed. The only downside is that the more open terrain, though not as exposed as right by the outpost, may give the carno the ability to pick up speed too.

As the minutes and miles tick by, Alicia is unhappy with the fact that the pounding steps behind them and roars of the carno persist. She's also worried how Nathaniel is going to react to this. It's probably going to be a while before he lets her go OTG again.

"Wash?" Mira's voice sounds in Alicia's ear over the comm.

Judging by Mira's tone, she guesses that it's a private channel. "Here, Mira."

"I'm worried about the open plain near the colony. It's not huge, but we'll be sitting ducks for a bit. Is the kid up to it?" That confirms the private channel.

"He's new, but his records indicate that he's tough and a good shot. He'll be OK. How are you holding up?"

Alicia grins when she hears a snort over the comm. "Walk in the park, Wash. Walk in the park."

As they draw nearer and nearer to the colony, the terrain begins to open up more. Alicia can't help but become even more tense, her hands taking a death grip on the wheel, as the pounding and roars begin to get closer. She thinks they'll be OK, but she knows it's going to be close.

**WT**WT**WT**

"Commander!" Nathaniel looks up from his lunch in the market at the sound of Reynolds' voice, and he sees the young soldier running full out towards them.

He exchanges a worried look with Elisabeth, who he met here for lunch along with Sam and Leah Marcos, their mother, Zoe and Gracie, Gracie being sound asleep in her stroller. Elisabeth gives him a quick nod, and he stands. "What's going on, Reynolds?"

"Sir, Reilly just called in. They're coming in with the three scientists from Outpost One. A carno was attacking the outpost, so Wash, Mira and Jackson drew them off to let Reilly get the scientists out. They're two minutes out, Wash should be not far behind."

Nathaniel swears under his breath before looking at Elisabeth again. "Is there milk for her at your house?" At his nod, she says, "I'll take her there, use my medical override to get in. You go."

"Thanks, Doc." He leans down and drops a soft kiss on Gracie's head, careful not to jostle her. He then takes off for the guard tower near the gate, Reynolds hot on his heels.

As they get to the top of the tower, Reilly's rover bursts out of the tree line. They tear across the plain, and Nathaniel calls out to the guard to open the gate and then to close it again behind them. Before he has to order her to, Reilly bounds out of the rover and up to the platform of the tower. Her eyes are wide and her expression concerned. "Sir, I'm sorry, I tried to make her let me draw the thing off, but she wouldn't allow it."

Nathaniel, staring at the tree line nods. "There's no one better behind the wheel of a rover, Reilly. She made the right call. You would only have something to apologize for if you'd disobeyed a direct order." He hates to admit that, but he knows it's the truth.

"Yes sir." She turns towards the tree line. "It should be any moment now, sir. She's probably going a lot faster than I did."

As if on cue, they hear the roar of a carno. Without moving his eyes from the trees, he yells, "Get the sonics ready, people."

Thirty seconds later, the second rover flies out of the trees. Unfortunately, the carno is only about sixty feet behind them. Nathaniel swears, thinking that it's going to be close. He hears more boots on the stairs, and he's joined by Guz and Shannon. He starts to think they'll make it when Alicia has to jerk the wheel sharply to avoid a large rock in their path. To everyone's horror, Mira loses her grip and tumbles to the ground, rolling to a stop.

A comm channel opens, and Nathaniel feels almost physically ill when he hears Alicia shout instructions at Mira over the comm. He feels even sicker when the little rover spins and heads back for Mira, straight towards the carno.

**WT**WT**WT**

"Shit. Hang on!" Alicia yells out warning to Jackson. She taps her comm, leaving the channel open, hoping the colony picks it up too. "Mira, I don't care how much you hurt, you get sitting up and get an arm out. Jackson, I'm going to grab her and swing her to you. You fire at that son of a bitch until you need to catch her and you start firing again the minute she's secure, you got it?"

"Yes ma'am!"

She points the rover just to the right of where Mira is struggling up to a sitting position, her face and entire right side bloody as hell. Alicia is about to hit the comm again when Mira shakes her head and sticks her left hand out.

Alicia knows they only have one shot at this. If they miss, Mira will be dead. Alicia slows just enough for her to safely get Mira. She feels the adrenaline pumping through her system, and keeping her right hand tight on the wheel, she leans out and reaches her left arm towards the former Sixer while Jackson fires repeatedly at the carno. As her hand hits Mira's arm, she yells, "Jackson!"

**WT**WT**WT**

"Holy shit." It's Jim who utters the words almost reverently. They all watch in stunned silence as Alicia catches Mira's outstretched arm and twists to the left, hauling Mira up towards Private Jackson. The private stops firing briefly, catches Mira and swings her into the seat by him, and then he starts firing again.

Over the comms, they hear the young man yell, "She's in! Go, ma'am!"

Alicia clearly doesn't need to be told twice. She spins the rover hard, and they can tell that she puts the pedal back on the floor. Private Jackson continues to fire, but the enraged carno stays with them, roaring at each hit.

The second they're near enough, Nathaniel yells, "Fire the damned sonics at that bastard!" The soldiers stationed on the fence line all open fire, driving the carno back as the little rover puts more distance between them. When they're close, Nathaniel tells them to open the gate again to let them in. He's already halfway down, Guz right behind him, when the rover flies in skidding and spinning to a stop.

He yells up to the guards to close the gate again, and in the background, he can hear the carno roar again. This time, though, it sounds like frustration, and he hears Jim call, "It's leaving!"

As he approaches the rover, Private Jackson steps off of it, shooting Nathaniel a funny look. Alicia's legs pop out of the rover, and when he gets there, he can see that she's sprawled backwards across the seat, her head on the opposite seat. Mira is in a similar position in the back, and she's holding her right arm to her body.

The sight is mostly what Nathaniel expected, save one thing. Both women, to his great surprise, are _laughing. _Alicia, in fact, is laughing so hard that she's actually got her arms wrapped around her own waist and tears running down her face, creating tracks in the dust from their wild ride.

He lifts an eyebrow at the sight, and he crosses his arms across his chest. Guz, next to him, just snorts. A moment later, Alicia must sense his presence, because she struggles back to a sitting position. She then shoots him a shit-eating grin. "Hi honey! We're home! How was _your _day?" That sends her and Mira both back into gasps of laughter, Guz joining them, and he can't swallow the grin that comes to his face.

"Fine dear. Yours?" All he gets is a snort in reply, and she flops back across the seat, still laughing.

As much as he wants to yell at her, when he pulls her to her feet a moment later, he finds himself at a loss. She looks ten years younger, her eyes still shining from laughter and adrenaline, her ponytail mussed and her face a little wind burned. Instead of saying anything, he just leans down and presses his lips to hers.

After several seconds and even more catcalls from the soldiers, he pulls back, pressing his forehead to hers. "Welcome home, Lieutenant. Nice driving and nice catch."

She smiles, the silliness gone. "Thanks, Commander. Sorry if we gave you a scare."

"No problem, Lieutenant."

Seeing the medics taking a look at Mira, without another word he grabs her bags and her hand and leads her home. When they get there, Elisabeth is sitting on the sofa holding a sleeping Gracie. Alicia nods towards the shower. Nathaniel takes Gracie from Elisabeth, assuming her place on the sofa as she bids her goodbyes.

Less than ten minutes later, Alicia emerges again, hair and body clean, dressed in some yoga pants and a soft nursing top. Gracie is waking up, so Alicia drops into her rocker, and Nathaniel hands Gracie to her. Once the baby is latched on, Alicia looks up at him. "I hope this little incident doesn't change things."

He sighs and runs a gentle hand through her hair. "It doesn't. I admit, it did cross my mind, but then I saw your face when I pulled you out of the rover." She gives him a questioning look, and he says, "You looked so damned happy. You'd just spent nearly an hour trying to outrun a carno, and you looked _happy. _I can't fight that, and I don't want to."

She grins at him. "You know, you're one of the only people I know who won't think I'm insane if I say it was kind of fun."

He chuckles. "Nope. It looked like fun. And that move with Mira? Genius, Alicia. I just can't believe you and Private Jackson pulled it off."

"That kid's tough. We need to take care of him, Nathaniel. He was invaluable today." She looks down as Gracie detaches and burps on her own, making them both laugh.

As she lifts Gracie to her shoulder to see if she needs to burp any more, Nathaniel smiles. "Take care of him, Alicia? Looks like the mothering is spreading. When did that happen?"

She shrugs as she nuzzles Gracie's neck, earning herself a two-toothed smile. "It is what it is, Nathaniel. I guess I just am going with the flow." She moves Gracie back to her breast, where she latches on again.

Nathaniel just leans down and kisses her. "Works for me, Lieutenant. Works for me."


End file.
